Supplemental Materials for Identification of Priority Resources of Concern, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) staff met February 2022 to identify priority ROC which are the species, species groups, and habitats in highest need of conservation attention. Alaska Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) staff facilitated conversations to develop criteria for a species rating system that reflected Refuge interests. Species ratings guided selection of priority ROC.

Kenai NWR staff chose 11 criteria to rate species: 1) contribution to Refuge purpose, 2) unique contribution to Refuge purposes among Alaskan Refuges, 3) federal or state conservation status, 4) best science and professional judgment, 5) vulnerability to climate change, 6) scope of stewardship responsibility and endemic species, 7) keystone or ecologically important species, 8) ecological specialists, 9) Refuge management issues and challenges, 10) subsistence or cultural importance, and 11) recreational importance.

Staff weighted the criteria and used the weighted average score to rank species. They identified priority ROC based on species rankings, species groups of similar needs, habitats that supported highly ranked species, and special values of the Kenai NWR.

The 13 priority ROC for Kenai NWR are:

• Freshwater systems (Chinook salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, American beaver, trumpeter swan, arctic char, and moose)
• Wetlands/peatlands (American beaver, trumpeter swan, and arctic char)
• Alpine ecosystems (wolverine and Dall's sheep)
• Boreal forests (brown bear and moose)
• Wilderness (Chinook salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, American beaver, trumpeter swan, arctic char, wolverine, Dall's sheep, brown bear, and moose)
• Salmon species (Chinook, coho, and sockeye)
• American beaver
• Trumpeter swan
• Arctic char
• Wolverine
• Dall's sheep
• Brown bear
• Moose

The priority ROCs will be the focus for the next steps in Refuge planning: developing specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, time-fixed (SMART) conservation objectives and the IMP.